2008-10-27_HYDROLOGY - C1980007

• Permit No: C1980007
• IBM Index Class Name: HYDROLOGY
• Doc Date: 10/27/2008
• Doc Name: 3rd Quarter 2008 DMRs
• From: Mountain Coal Company
• To: CDOH WQCD
• Permit Index Doc Type: DMR’s
• Email Name: TAK
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

`\MOUNTAIN COAL
(OMPANYL.L.C.
A Subsidiary of Arch Western Resources. LLC
October 24, 2008
RECEIVED
XT 27 2008
Division of Reclamation,
Mining and Safety
West Elk Mine
P0Box591
5174 Highway 133
Somerset CO 81434
[phone]
Fax [phone]
Ms. Kelly Morgan
Compliance Monitoring, and Data Management Unit
Water Quality Control Division
Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment
4300 Cherry Creek Drive South
Denver, CO 80246-1530
Re: Mountain Coal Company, LLC, West Elk Mine, CDPS Permit No. CO-0038776,
Discharge Monitoring Reports for the Third Quarter 2008.
Dear Ms. Morgan:
Attached are Mountain Coal Company's (MCC's) Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) for the third
quarter of 2008. During the third quarter, there were a total of four exceedances at Outfall 007A and
five exceedances at Outfall 017A. No exceedances occurred at any of the other outfalls for CDPS
Permit No. CO-0038776 (the Permit) in the third quarter. MCC notified the Water Quality Control
Division (WQCD) of the exceedances at Outfall 017A during a meeting on August 21, 2008.
Outfall 007A is an internal domestic wastewater discharge that flows into a large lined pond for Outfall
004. The four exceedances at Outfall 007A were associated with the 85% removal requirement for 5-
day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and total suspended solids (TSS) and occurred on August 6th
and September 3rd. There were no exceedances of the effluent concentration limits specified in the
Permit of 30 mg /1 for the 30-day average and 45 mg/l for the daily maximum for BOD5 and TSS at
Outfall 007. The percent removal exceedances are attributable to the amount of grey water in the
influent to Outfall 007A from showers, sinks and floor drains. The low concentration of solids in the
grey water makes consistently meeting the 85% removal for BOD5 and TSS extremely difficult. In
order to address the percent removal issue, representatives of MCC met with you and Andrew Neuhart
of the Permit Program on September 11, 2008. At the meeting, modifying the permit to change the
requirement from percent removal to establishing a mass loading limit for both BOD5 and TSS was
discussed. Mr. Neuhart indicated that the WQCD understands this issue and has made this change in
permits for facilities in a similar situation. MCC is in the process of preparing a permit modification
for submittal to the WQCD, as was discussed during the September 11, 2008 meeting.
MCC ceased discharging from Outfall 017A on July 17, 2008. The five exceedances at Outfall 017A
occurred during the third quarter of 2008 prior to MCC ceasing the discharge at Outfall 017A. A total
of two samples were collected at Outfall 017A during the third quarter. The first sample was collected
on July 1, 2008 and exceeded the total suspended solids (TSS) and potentially dissolved iron (Fe-PD)
discharge limitations for Outfall 017A specified under Part I.A.c. of the Permit. Laborato>y results
from the second sample collected on July 9, 2008 indicate that the discharge limitations at Outfall
017A were exceeded for TSS. Fe-PD and total recoverable iron (Fe-TR). Averaging the results of